The boss of an East Neuk convenience store sexually assaulted a 15-year-old customer in direct view of two of her friends.
Rajiv Sharma’s brazen assault of the teenage girl was also in the line of sight of his own CCTV camera.
Sharma, the boss of A&A Stores in Anstruther, reached out and touched the teenager as she walked up an aisle on June 21 this year.
At Dundee Sheriff Court, Sheriff Francis Gill convicted Sharma, of Woodside Avenue in Dundee, of the assault after a trial.
The court heard evidence from the 15-year-old through a video link, in which she described Sharma, 49, touching her abdomen.
Security footage from inside the shop was played in court.
It showed the girl and Sharma walking from opposite ends of an aisle towards each other.
As Sharma passed, he extended an arm and touched the girl’s body.
Two of her friends were directly behind her and in eyeline with the assault.
However, these witnesses were not called to give evidence in court.
Victim’s mum describes distress
The girl’s mother also gave evidence about the girl’s condition when she came home.
The 42-year-old said it had been a school day and the girl usually returned home after 9pm.
“[She] phoned me at home on my mobile, just before 9pm – about 8.50pm.
“Obviously I’d had the phone call.
“She was very distressed, crying and wanting to get her clothes off.
“I tried to calm her down.
“I got her to talk to me.
“I sat with her, I said to her everything was going to be okay.”
The girl’s mother contacted police after the discussion.
Crown witnesses ‘credible and reliable’
His solicitor David Duncan suggested there was no case to answer as allegations which appeared in the initial charge that Sharma touched the girl’s breast and made a sexual comment, were not raised in evidence.
However, Sharma was convicted of an amended charge of sexually assaulting the girl in his High Street shop by handling her abdomen.
Sheriff Gill placed Sharma on the Sex Offenders Register.
He said: “In this case, I found the Crown witnesses to be credible and reliable.
“The evidence is clear that you touched the complainer on the stomach.”
The sheriff deferred sentencing until January for reports.
